Speculation:Sethra Lavode
Her presumed hobbies include turning Dzur heroes into jhereg and/or statues, palling around with The Necromancer, and finding new ways to use black in sartorial and interior design. Lavode Scandal The Empire's discovery of her undead status, after some 250 years during which she was a distinguished Warlord, may have been the root of the "Lavode Scandal". Crossbreed? It is speculated that Sethra may be a crossbreed. Vlad Taltos has noted aspects of both Dzur and Dragon in her features, and her device is a white Dragon's Head and Dzur's Claw against black. Like a Dragon, she is a formidable war leader, skilled in military tactics and strategies; yet unlike a Dragon, she does not seem to be interested in conquering territory. She may be associated with Dzur by way of Dzur Mountain, and because her epitome of skill in both martial and magical arts could well be seen as Heroic. Her lineage block does not explain her heritage, and hints are given either way in the texts. Possibly the most telling evidence that Sethra has at least some Dzur ancestry is Morrollan's comment in Taltos that Sethra was sent to the Paths of the Dead from the statue of the Dzur there. However, it should be noted that since she is 'older than the empire', it may be difficult to classify her as such, since looser rules about that sort of thing probably existed at the time. She may have been a member of the 31 tribes that didn't become a House, or even predating that time. She may also have literally been animated from a part of Dzur Mountain itself, as she hints at one point. Likewise, Sethra would likely be more than capable of fighting her way into the Dzur, given sufficient motivation. I can't imagine that anyone would ever criticize her for being a crossbreed (or even want to talk about the possibility), unless they wanted to end up as a teckla, a norska, or a newt. ''--"I'll get better."'' Iceflame It is never made clear how Sethra, when Kiera, can hide Iceflame on her person without alerting every psychic and semi-psychic in the area as to the presence of a Great Weapon. Easterners, who she sometimes hangs out among, are known to be particularly sensitive to their presence. If she doesn't hide it on her person, what does she do with it? *It is possible she keeps it at Dzur Mountain, but can retreive it when needed using teleportation. *She might keep it near her, but on another plane of existence accessed via a Necromantic Gate. *She may in fact just hide it physically on her person, possibly in a transformed state (as we know may be possible because Morrolan transforms his wizard's staff into a ring), and then shield its effects psychically (as we know may be possible because Daymar was able to shield Vlad from the effects of a roomful of Morganti weapons). Sethra and Dolivar Sethra might have been Dolivar's lover. Some good points are that Vlad and Kiera are physically affectionate (they kiss rather passionately, as Vlad says it, "Cawti would have been jealous"), and Sethra did let Dolivar escape. This would also go a long way to explaining why Kiera (Sethra) was always friendly to Vlad from an early age. SKZB has refuted this theory, however. Sethra and The Sorceress in Green Sethra and the Sorceress in Green may be lovers. They have had many millennia to get to know one another. During the struggle to restore the empire, when Sethra asked the Sorceress in Green to locate Skinter's army, they spoke to one another in an extremely flirtatious way. Being Sethra's lover would also help to explain why the Sorceress in Green is allowed to hang around Castle Black even after all of her various plots and schemes were revealed by Vlad. Alternatively, their cameraderie could be due to the fact that their advanced ages allowed them millennia to get to know each other. Dzur Heroes Sethra Lavode is alleged to change those Dzur Heroes who charge up her mountain into teckla and/or jhegaala. It may be that this has been misunderstood, and what she is actually doing is changing their facial (and other physical) features so that they no longer look like Dzur, and instead look like members of House Teckla and/or House Jhegaala. Given that Dzur are deeply concerned with reputation, that physical change, especially into members of Houses not known for their bravery, might well be deeply embarrassing, which is why no-one hears from them again afterwards. Another possible fate that might have occurred to at least some of the Dzur Heroes who challenged Sethra might have been that, not wanting to waste perfectly good Heroes, Sethra recruited them into the first of the Lavodes. In that context, it is interesting to recall that one of the meanings of "Lavode" is "of mountains". It also opens up the question of what she might presently be doing with the ones who have challenged her since Adron's Disaster wiped out her fellow-Lavodes. It may also be that the reason that Sethra might be considered a Dzur (or part Dzur) is that she has defeated far more that seventeen Dzur Heroes. Indeed, the rule to join the House Dzur may have been created specifically because of this situation. --A difficulty with this speculation; the rules of the Dzur state that you must defeat 17 heroes chosen by the House, not just 17 random Dzur who decide they don't like you. --MrNexx 03:20, 8 December 2007 (UTC) Finally, perhaps one Dzur Hero, of the many who challenged her, may have defeated her, which in turn led to her being currently undead. Very little is known about the events surrounding that change in her life-state. When is Paarfi going to write the definitive biography of Sethra Lavode, anyway? Origin Is there any significance to the fact that Sethra is an anagram of earths, or Earth's? Category:Speculation